Violence and blood marred the Copa América final as fans without tickets break in the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami

Thousands of ticketless individuals forced their way into Miami's Hard Rock Stadium to witness the Copa América final between Colombia and Argentina, determined to gain entry by any means necessary.

What initially appeared to be minor disturbances escalated into a chaotic surge, with people jumping fences, breaking barriers, and even sneaking through air conditioning ducts that opened into the stadium's exterior area.

As the police violently suppressed the intruders, thousands of legitimate ticket holders, who had paid between $2,000 and $10,000 for their seats, were left waiting outside for hours. Inside the Hard Rock Stadium corridors, there were scenes of bloodied people due to police beatings, hundreds of individuals handcuffed, and a significant number of fainting and minor injuries treated by overwhelmed paramedics.

According to Univision, the Spanish-language broadcaster with rights to the event, approximately 7,000 individuals illegally entered the stadium, while another 2,500 ticket holders were left outside.

Fear and confusion

Witnesses described scenes of intense fear and distress, especially among families with elderly members and young children.

The incidents began shortly after 5 PM, with the initial chaos centered around the Southwest Gate of the Miami Dolphins' home stadium. Fans from both teams, though predominantly Colombians, first attempted to infiltrate through the accredited journalists' access area before starting to climb the fences. This forced the activation of a strong, albeit inefficient, security operation deployed by the Miami police authorities, leading to a series of arrests.

Because of those initial incidents, which seemed to have been quelled, the police set up a barricade behind the personnel controlling the entrances. However, they then decided to close the gates for about 45 minutes, marking the beginning of the disaster.

This situation caused impatience among fans trying to enter with their tickets. The intense heat—around 34°C—exacerbated the situation, becoming unbearable due to the high humidity and the elevated blood alcohol levels in some of the fans.

It appeared that calm had been restored, but this peace lasted only a few minutes. A group of Colombian fans tried again to force their way in without tickets, leading the police to shut down that access point again. The problem worsened when the organizers closed more gates to prevent further chaos, leaving only one gate open. This bottleneck effect, combined with the intolerable heat, caused people to become increasingly desperate around the stadium. The situation deteriorated further when the police ordered the closure of all gates.

The scenes resembled a tragedy: many people were overwhelmed by the heat, and there were children and women fainting.

Eventually, the organizers decided to open the doors and many people with and without tickets entered the venue. The game started at 9.30 pm Miami time. The original time was 8 pm.